KVAL Predictions: 116th Civil War

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It’s week 13 of the college football season. State bragging rights are on the line when Oregon heads to Corvallis for the 116th Civil War. Time for PREDICTIONS.

Oregon vs. Oregon State

Tom: After the defensive display put on by Stanford at Autzen, the Oregon offense looks mortal. But even OSU coach Mike Riley says there's no magic formula for stopping the Ducks' potent attack. With all that said, I believe Oregon will get their mojo back on offense, and put the pressure on the Beavers. Kenjon Barner and the Oregon rushing attack won't have the field day they had in Eugene a year ago. Look for an all out air assault from both teams, as Marcus Mariota and Sean Mannion are both primed for big games against secondaries that give up on average 220-230 yards per game. The Ducks and Beavers are also 1-2 in the conference in both turnover margin and red zone offense, and that's where this one will be won. Last week against Stanford, the Ducks were just 4-of-17 on 3rd down, and 0-for-2 on 4th down. A repeat of those numbers will undoubtedly add up to the first OSU Civil War win since 2007. Do I think the Ducks WILL repeat that performance? No. Oregon: 38 Oregon State: 28

Nick: If we want to make an office side-bet, I would call for Stanford to win on the road at UCLA, deeming whatever the Ducks do irrelevant in the Pac-12 picture. But getting to 11-1 as Michael Clay told me is, “still a hell of a season”. Truth told. Maybe Max Wittek can help USC dethrone the Golden Domers from #1, FSU can chop the Gators, then let Georgia and ‘Bama beat up on one another in the SEC Championship next week. Then we’ll see where 11-1 gets you (12-1 if Stanford loses, then the Ducks throttle Jimmy Mora). The BCS sucks but it’s what we live with and for now, it’s what makes college football tick. As for the Civil War, I think it will be a tight game throughout with the Beavers even leading at halftime, but ultimately the Ducks don’t allow their four-game win streak in the rivalry to stop. They even make a field goal. Second office side-bet. Chip Kelly walks off to the NFL 4-0 in Civil War games. Oregon: 34 Oregon State: 21

Dirk: As you might recall, last week I said Stanford could beat the Ducks. I was also the only one in the KVAL sports department to have Oregon scoring below 40 points against the Cardinal. So, did Stanford give the blueprint on how to stop the potent Oregon offense? Yes, when you have the front seven that the Cardinal has. While the Beavers have a good front seven, it’s not the same as Stanford. OSU runs a slightly different scheme than the Cardinal. That doesn’t mean the Beavs can’t have success slowing down the Ducks. I think OSU will keep Oregon below 40 points. Dylan Wynn and Scott Crichton are very disruptive at defensive end and cornerback Jordan Poyer can take away one side of the field. I like the Beavers’ chances to knock off the Ducks and prevent them from making a BCS bowl game. However, my gut tells me that Oregon will make the necessary adjustments to have better success against OSU, especially in the run game. It may be a wild one. Oregon: 36 Oregon State: 30

Phil: I never thought the mighty Oregon offense could ever be held to just 14 points. Stanford did a great job against the Ducks, and I think the Beavers actually matchup better. Oregon State has fast linebackers in the middle and lock down corners outside. The Beavs played well against the spread offense versus UCLA and Arizona, but Oregon runs it better than any other team. On the other side, I think the biggest key will be turnovers. If Sean Mannion protects the ball, this could be a great game. The bottom line is, Oregon State will have to play a near perfect game to win and hope for a little luck. I think it could happen, but I don’t see Oregon losing back to back weeks. Then again, I never thought the Ducks would be held to 14 points. Oregon: 35 Oregon State: 28

The Standings

No one in the office thought Oregon would lose last week, so the standings stay the same. Nick is hanging on for dear life.